Folding mechanism for printing machines



Aug. 9, 1938. H. P. CLAUBERG v FOLDING MECHANISM FOR PRINTING MACHINES Filed Aug. 51, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

ug. 9, 1938. H. P. CLAUBERG v FOLDING MECHANISM FOR PRINTING MACHINES Filed Aug. 51, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Aug. 9, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE" FOLDING MECHANISM FOR. PRINTING MACHINES Herman P. Clauberg, Hasbrouck Heights, N. J

assignor to R. He& Co.', Inc., New York, N. YL, I a corporation of New York Application August 31, 1935, serial No, 38,673

12 Claims.

This invention relates to printing machines and more particularly to folding mechanisms for folding products of the printing machine either singly or in groups.

The invention as herein illustrated is particularly applicable to rotary folding mechanisms, wherein cooperating cylinders are rotated together and products of the printing machine, generally in the form of printed sheets, are collected, either as single products or in groups of products on one cylinder and are suitably folded and removed by the other. Heretofore it has been necessary, in many instances, to make time consuming and inconvenient changes in the folding mechanisms of printing machines whenever it was desirable to change over the mechanisms to collect and fold a plurality of products after it had been operated to fold but single products. These required changes often necessitated the provision of comparatively complicated mechanisms and a plurality of interchangeable parts whereby the initial cost, and the operating expense were undesirably high.

The present invention contemplates, primarily, obviating the above inconveniences and expenses by the provision of a comparatively simply constructed and arranged, cooperating pair of cylinders, one of which collects the printed products, and the other, in cooperation with the first, folds them and removes them therefrom either singly or in groups.

-Another object is to provide, in a collecting and folding mechanism, means whereby the same may be readily and expeditiously changed over from an adaptability to collect and fold single products to the ability to collect and fold. a group of such products.

Still another object is to provide a collecting and folding mechanism for a printing machine wherein the number of the several parts, thereof, will be reduced to a minimum, may be disposed and assembled in operable positions, and not require removal therefrom, when the mechanism is to be operated to collect and fold single or a plurality of products, whereby the mechanism'as a whole will be more efficiently operable and sturdier in structure.

A further object is to provide in a collecting and folding mechanism, of the type under consideration, folding means including cooperating and removable product gripping or folding jaws constituting the only parts requiring removal from the mechanism to effect variations in the number of products collected and folded thereby.

With the foregoing and other objects in view,

which will appear as the description proceeds; the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts, and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that various. changeslin the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed may be made within the scope of what is claimed.- Without departing frointhe spirit of the invention.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is 10 illustrated in the accompanying drawings,

wherein: I

Figure .l is a transversesection through the cooperating parts of a pair of cylinders constituting. a collecting and folding mechanism embodying the features of thisinvention, the section being taken on line 22 of Figure 4 but showing certain parts thereof in a different operating position;

Figure 2 is a transverse section on line 2-2 0 of Figure 4;-

Figure 3- is a section similar to Figure 2 but with certain parts omitted fora purpose to be hereinafter disclosed;

Figured is a plan View of a portion of one of the cylinders, the one hereinafter referred to. as the folding cylinder, looking generally in the direction of arrow 4- in Figure 2; and

Figure 5 is an end view, in greatlyreduced scale, of a pair of cooperating cylinders to more or less diagrammatically illustrate the operation of the mechanism of this invention.

The embodiment selected to illustrate the features of this invention will be understood to form a part of a printing. machine to which the printed products or sheets are transmitted for collectionand folding. It will be further understood that the collecting cylinder or roll ll preferably has a plurality of product impaling pins or other well known product retaining devices, such as grippers thereon, although for the purpose of the description of this invention such devices have not been shown.

The cylinder H is generally provided with a plurality of tucking or folding blades l2. suitably mounted thereon and whichuextend generally radially from the periphery thereof. The blades l2, it is understood, are disposed about the periphery of the cylinder, and spaced about the same, to be operable upon a printed product at the portion thereof where the fold is to occur. It may be said that the blade forms the means about which the product is folded.

Thev cylinder or roll [3, cooperating with the cylinder Hz, a portion only of which is shown, will be understood to have a plurality of pairs of sheet clamping or folding jaws I4 and I thereon, spaced about its periphery to receive the products from the cylinder I I and fold them about the blades I2. The cylinders II and I3 are geared together, in the usual manner for cylinders used for this purpose, so that the surface speed thereof is substantially equal. In the present instance, the cylinder I3 is shown larger in diameter than cylinder II. the cylinders is for the purpose of permitting the accommodation thereon of more pairs of jaws I4 and I5 on the cylinder I3 than blades I2 on the cylinder II, whereby various combinations may be effected in the collecting and folding of the products as will be pointed out hereinafter.

Herein the jaws I4 and I5 are mounted in recesses I6 formed in the periphery of cylinder I3 and extend substantially the length of the cylinder. The jaw I4 is secured to the cylinder I3 by screws I'I, while the jaw I5 is mounted on a shaft I8 journaled at each end of the cylinder I3 and extending beyond one end thereof. The jaw I5 is rockable toward and away from the jaw I4 by means of mechanism including a crank I9 secured to the extended shaft I8 and having a cam roller 2I mounted thereon to ride on the cam surface 22 of a stationary cam 23. The cam surface 22 is formed to cause the crank I9 to rock the jaw I5 toward the jaw I4 whenever a blade I2 is disposed therebetween. A compression spring 24 is provided and arranged in the cylinder I3 to act against the jaw I5 to constantly urge it toward the jaw I4 and to maintain the roller 2I operatively upon the cam surface 22. Preferably, the rockable jaw I5 is arranged to move away from the jaw I4 in the direction of rotation of the cylinders II and I3 where their peripheries are adjacent.

Each of the jaws I4 and I5 is herein provided with a readily removable sheet gripping member 3I and 32 respectively. The members 3I and 32 are, in this instance, in the form of bars which extend substantially the entire length of the cylinder I3 and are secured to the respective jaws by screws 33. The members 3I and 32 are seated in suitable sockets 34 and 35, respectively formed in the opposing faces of the jaws I4 and I5, and are, preferably, of greater dimension radially, with respect to the cylinder I3 than the portion of the blade I2 entering therebetween.

Each jaw I4 and I5 is provided upon its outer surface with a beveled surface portion 36 and 3'! respectively. The beveled surface 36 of the jaw I4 extending from the periphery of cylinder I3 downwardly or inwardly toward the center of the cylinder I3 into the socket 34, and the surface 3'! of the jaw I3 is likewise extended into the socket 35. The angle of the beveled surfaces 36 and 3'! is substantially the same as the angle formed by the products as they are supported on the cylinder II by the blades I2. The above described formation of the sheet gripping members or bars 3| and 32 with respect to their thickness necessitates sufficient depth in the sockets 34 and 35 so that these sockets and the beveled surfaces 36 and 31, due to their angular form, provide a clearance space in the cylinder I3 for the blades I2 and the sheets thereon, when the bars 3I and 32 are removed, for a purpose to be hereinafter disclosed.

Referring particularly to Figure 5, wherein is illustrated a pair of cooperating sheet collecting and folding cylinders II and I3, it will be noticed that the cylinder I I is provided with a This difference in diameter between plurality of blades I2, in this instance three, and that the cylinder I3 is provided with a plurality of pairs of folding jaws I4 and I5, in this instance four. Heretofore, in sheet collecting and folding mechanisms when it was desired to collect and fold a plurality of products in groups, it has been the practice to replace the various parts of the mechanism to make rearrangements to provide for such operations. In some instances, blades corresponding to the blades I2 were arranged to be withdrawn into the cylinder carrying the same,

expensively accomplished, without requiring the rearrangement of the operative parts whereby such mechanism may be constructed and assembled, to form a sturdy structure of comparatively few parts. The removal of the sheet gripping bars 3I and 32, for instance, from the points 4| and 42 of cylinder I3 in Figure 5, will cause the mechanism to operate to collect two sheets 43 at each blade I2 on the cylinder II before the same are folded. No change in the cam 23 and no alteration of the arrangement of the other parts is required.

A product collected by the cylinder I I will first be carried on the blade I2 past the jaws I4 and I5 at the point M, the jaws I4 and I5 closing by action of cam 33, but not gripping and folding the product due to the omission of bars 3I and 32, as shown in Figure 3. The product 43 in this instance freely passes by this point, without interference due to the clearance space formed in the cylinder I3 by the omission of bars 3! and 32 and the provision of the beveled surfaces 36 and 37 respectively formed on the jaws I l and I5. This product is carried on by the cylinder I I, and another product is collected in superimposed relation upon the first, as at 44. When the superimposed products again tend to pass between the cylinders II and I3, the jaws I4 and I5 of pair 45, for instance, having sheet gripping members 3! and 32 thereon, close and fold the plurality of products 44 and remove them from the cylinder II, as at 46, and as shown in Figures 1 and 2. Different combinations are possible by omitting the gripping bars SI and 32 from various jaws I4 and I5 and by initially providing the cylinders i I and I3 with different numbers of blades and jaws than those shown. For instance, if the bars SI and 32 are omitted from all but one pair of the jaws I4 and I5, in the arrangement shown in Figure 5, four products will be collected and associated together before folding.

It will be understood that the invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof, and it is therefore desired that the present embodiment be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, reference being had to the claims rather than to the foregoing description to indicate the scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. In a collecting and folding mechanism for a printing machine, the combination of a pair of cooperating cylinders, one of said cylinders having a plurality of tucking blades disposed in spaced relation about its circumference and the other cylinder having a plurality of pairs of jaws for gripping and removing sheets from the firstmentioned cylinder, disposed in spaced relation about its circumference, and a sheet engaging member on each of said jaws and removable therefrom to cause said jaws to become inoperable to grip a sheet and remove it from the firstmentiond cylinder.

2. In a collecting and folding mechanism for a printing machine, the combination of a pair of cooperating cylinders, one of said cylinders having a plurality of tucking blades disposed in spaced relation about its circumference and the other cylinder having a plurality of jaws, disposed in spaced relation about its circumference, and a removable sheet gripping member disposed on each jaw.

3. The combination in a printing machine, a rotatable cylinder having a sheet directing blade extending from the periphery thereof, and another rotatable cylinder having a pair of sheet gripping jaws at its periphery, said blade and said jaws cooperating upon rotation of said cylinders, to present one opposite the other, to fold a sheet, and a sheet engaging member on at least one of said jaws and removable therefrom to cause said jaws to become inoperative for cooperation with said blade to fold a sheet.

4. The combination in a printing machine, a rotatable cylinder having a sheet directing blade extending from the periphery thereof, and another rotatable cylinder having a pair of sheet gripping jaws at its periphery, said blade and said jaws cooperating upon rotation of said cylinders to present one opposite the other, to fold a sheet, and means forming part of said gripping jaws and readily removable therefrom to cause said jaws to be inoperative for cooperation with said blade to fold a sheet.

5. In a sheet folding mechanism for a printing machine, a rotatable cylinder, a pair of cooperating members at the periphery of said cylinder normally inoperative to grip a product, and means securable to said members to grip and fold a sheet directed therebetween.

6. In a sheet folding mechanism for a printing machine, a rotatable cylinder, a pair of cooperating jaws at the periphery of said cylinder, and a removable member on each jaw, each member cooperating with the other togrip and fold a sheet directed therebetween.

7. In a sheet folding mechanism for a printing machine, a cylinder having a blade extending from its periphery, another cylinder having a pair of jaws at its periphery, each of said jaws having a removable portion cooperating with each other and with said blade to fold a sheet directed by the latter, between the removable portions of the former.

8. In a sheet folding mechanism for a printing machine, a cylinder having a blade extending from its periphery, another cylinder having a pair of jaws at its periphery, said blade being operable to direct a sheet in between said jaws, and means on each jaw adapted to cooperate with each other and with said blade to grip and fold a sheet directed therebetween, said means being removable to provide clearance space, in the cylinder upon which said jaws are mounted, for said blade and the sheet being directed thereby.

9. In a sheet folding mechanism for a printing. machine, a rotatable cylinder having a sheet tucking blade extending from its periphery, another rotatable cylinder having a pair of jaws at its periphery, said blade being adapted to cooperate with said jaws when said cylinders are rotating to tuck a sheet between said jaws for it to be folded thereby, and a removable sheet engaging member on at least one of said jaws to provide a clearance space for the blade and the sheet being acted on by the blade and to prevent folding of the sheet by said jaws when the member is removed.

10. In a sheet folding mechanism for a printing machine, a rotatable cylinder having a sheet tucking blade extending from its periphery, another rotatable cylinder having a pair of coo-perating jaws at its periphery, said blade being adapted to cooperate with said jaws when said cylinders are rotating to tuck a sheet between said jaws for it to be folded thereby, and a sheet engaging member on at least one of said jaws and which is removable therefrom to provide a clearance space between said jaws for the blade and the sheet being acted on by the blade to prevent folding of the sheet by the jaws.

11. In a sheet collecting and folding mechanism, the combination of a pair of cooperating cylinders, one of said cylinders having a sheet tucking blade and the other cylinder having a pair of closable sheet folding jaws, a sheet engaging member carried by each jaw and adapted to be secured thereto in position to engage and fold a sheet tucked therebetween by said blade and to be removed from such sheet engaging position to provide a space between said jaws to prevent the engagement of a sheet thereby.

12. In a sheet folding mechanism, the combination of a pair of openable and closable jaws and a pair of sheet engaging members positionable one on each jaw into cooperating relation with each other to grip a sheet directed therebetween, one of said members being removable from such sheet gripping position to provide a clearance space between said jaws for the sheet directed therebetween.

HERMAN P. CLAUBERG. 

